Obama Continues Push For Health Proposal

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President Obama travelled to
Minneapolis today for a rally and also used a new Treasury Department analysis
to continue his push for health care reform.

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The Associated Press: "Eager
to grab the megaphone from his opponents, President Barack Obama carried a
reinvigorated pitch to overhaul and expand the nation's health insurance system
in a trip Saturday to friendly territory. His address to rally of more than
10,000 at Target Center was part of a weekend campaign by the White House to
give the president as much exposure as possible after his prime-time address
Wednesday to Congress."

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"I have no interest in
having a bill get passed that fails. That doesn't work," he told CBS' '60
Minutes' in an interview to air Sunday night. He added: "I intend to be
president for a while and once this bill passes, I own it. And if people look
and say, You know what? This hasn't reduced my costs. My premiums are still
going up 25 percent, insurance companies are still jerking me around.' I'm the
one who's going to be held responsible. So I have every incentive to get this
right." (Kuhnhenn, 9/12).

The New York Times reports that
the Minneapolis rally is "the first of a series of rallies intended to
whip up public support for his health care bill. The second is planned for
Thursday, at the University of Maryland in College Park.

The White House hopes the rallies
will provide a powerful visual - thousands of boisterous Americans cheering in
support of health reform - to counter the negative images that emerged during
Congressional town meetings over the summer, where critics of Mr. Obama turned
out in force. With anti-tax groups who oppose Mr. Obama's policies staging
their own rally in Washington on Saturday, the president can ill afford to cede
the airwaves to his opponents" (Stolberg, 9/12).

Politico: "President Obama
is seizing on a new Treasury Department analysis of data from the University of
Michigan that shows many Americans will be without health insurance at periods
of their life to make the case for his reform efforts. In his weekly radio and
internet address, Obama cites the study to say, 'half of all Americans under 65
will lose their health coverage at some point over the next ten years.'"

"'If you're under the age of
21 today, chances are more than half that you'll find yourself uninsured at
some point in that time, Obama said. And more than one-third of Americans
will go without coverage for longer than one year.' The study is taken from a
sample of some 7,500 American families selected by a panel at the University of
Michigan, according to Treasury officials who briefed reporters on the results
Friday night" (Martin, 9/12).

Wall Street Journal: "The
Treasury report also stated that, from 1997 to 2006, 41% of non-elderly people
lacked insurance for at least 6 months. 45% of people earning $50,000 to
$100,000 lacked insurance for at least a month during the 10-year period. A
Treasury official said in a conference call Friday that the number of those who
didn't have insurance during the 10-year period could actually be higher. 'To
the extent our numbers are off, we expect that we're understating the periods
that people go without health insurance,' the official said" (Yoest, 9/12).

The Hill reports that, in the Republican address, Sen.
John Cornyn, R-Texas, talked about the President: "'He's paid lip service
to bipartisanship while rejecting the ideas that would build bipartisan
support,' the Texas senator said, criticizing the administration for the cost
of its proposal. 'As a result, the president has alienated not only
independents and divided his own party, but Republicans as well. And, he's ignored the clear wishes of the American people.' Cornyn, along with a host of
other GOP lawmakers, will make that case again to viewers on the Sunday talk
shows this week. In what is perhaps a preview of what he and his colleagues
will say, he ticked off a series of his party's recommendations for health
reform, including changes to malpractice laws and revisions to Medicare and
Medicaid" (Romm, 9/12).

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